And while most college basketball experts agree that Michigan needs only one tournament win to secure its first NCAA tournament bid since 1998, coach John Beilein's players aren't thinking that way.

After all, business is business.

And at this stage of the season, anything can happen.

"Nothing is set in stone and we can't get ahead of ourselves," fifth-year senior captain C.J. Lee said. "All we can do is focus on Iowa. It's our next game and it's our only game if we don't win so it definitely deserves all our focus and all of our attention."

It may be natural to look at Thursday's first-round meeting with the Iowa as some sort of redemption for a disappointing loss at Iowa City last month.

But with a great deal riding on the present -- much like it was last weekend at Minnesota -- the Wolverines aren't concerned in the least about the past.

"There's definitely been some ups and downs," freshman guard Zack Novak said this afternoon. "It's been kind of a roller coaster ride, but we just have tried to fight all year long and every time we've had our backs against the wall, we've fought back and that will do us well as we wrap up the season."

So do the Wolverines feel like they are again backed into a corner, needing a win if they are to find their way into the 65-team field come Sunday?

"We just feel like we need to come in and get this first game taken care of," Novak said. "We'll take one game at a time -- that's all we can do. It's out of our hands then."

Lee, who has thrived in his role as captain along with fellow fifth-year senior David Merritt, sees the same urgency the Wolverines had going to Minneapolis. And right now, playing with a do-or-die mentality isn't a bad thing.

"This has to be a business trip because the only thing we can do to help our cause is win," Lee said. "We're not going to scoreboard watch, we're not going to hope that this team loses in this conference because that takes away what we can do and takes away from our focus."